Dynamic library replacement

ABSTRACT

Provided are techniques for an OS to be modified on a running system such that running programs, including system services, so not have to be stopped and restarted for the modification to take effect. The techniques include detecting, by a processing thread, when the processing thread has entered a shared library; in response to the detecting, setting a thread flag corresponding to the thread in an operating system (OS); detecting an OS flag, set by the OS, indicating that the OS is updating the shared library; in response to detecting the OS flag, suspending processing by the processing thread and transferring control from the thread to the OS; resuming processing by the processing thread in response to detecting that the OS has completed the updating; and executing the shared library in response to the resuming.

FIELD OF DISCLOSURE

The claimed subject matter relates generally to computing systems and,more specifically, to techniques for the modification of sharedlibraries without shutting down associated programs.

BACKGROUND OF TILE INVENTION

Most operating systems (OSs) provide for the implementation of sharedlibraries, which may also be known, among other names, as shared ordynamically-linked objects. In a typical OS, shared libraries in need ofa repair, or patch, are fixed by replacing one version with another.However, programs that are currently run ng continue to use the originalrather than the replacement, or new, version and only newly executedprograms access the new version. This scenario implies that a running,program must be restarted to take advantage of an OS modification and,if the running program is a system service that cannot be stopped andrestarted, the entire computing system must be rebooted.

SUMMARY

Provided are techniques for an OS to be modified on a running systemsuch that running programs, including system services, so not have to bestopped and restarted for the modification to take effect. Thetechniques include detecting, by a processing thread, when theprocessing thread has entered a shared library; in response to thedetecting, setting a thread flag corresponding to the thread in anoperating system (OS); detecting an OS flag, set by the OS, indicatingthat the OS is updating the shared library; in response to detecting theOS flag, suspending processing by the processing thread and transferringcontrol from the thread to the OS; resuming processing by the processingthread in response to detecting that the OS has completed the updating;and executing the shared library in response to the resuming.

Also provided are techniques for setting, by an operating system (OS),an OS flag indicating that the OS is updating a shared library;detecting, by the OS, that a thread flag set in response to a processingthread detecting entry into the shared library, is set; detecting thatthe thread flag has been cleared; replacing the shared library with anreplacement shared library in response to the detecting that the threadflag has been cleared; and clearing the OS flag in response to acompletion of the replacing; detecting, by a processing thread, when theprocessing thread has entered a shared library; in response to thedetecting, setting a thread flag corresponding to the thread in anoperating, system (OS); detecting an OS flag, set by the OS, indicatingthat the OS is updating the shared library.

This summary is not intended as a comprehensive description of theclaimed subject matter but, rather, is intended to provide a briefoverview of some of the functionality associated therewith. Othersystems, methods, functionality, features and advantages of the claimedsubject matter will be or will become apparent to one with skill in theart upon examination of the following figures and detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A better understanding of the claimed subject matter can be obtainedwhen the following, detailed description of the disclosed embodiments isconsidered in conjunction with the following figures, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a computing system architecture that mayimplement the claimed subject matter.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a computing system, first introduced inFIG. 1, in greater detail.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a “Setup Library” process that may implementaspect of the claimed subject matter.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a “Call Library” process that may implementaspect of the claimed subject matter.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an “Update Library” process that may implementaspect of the claimed subject matter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the presentinvention may be embodied as a system, method or computer programproduct. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the formof an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment(including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or anembodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may allgenerally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.”Furthermore, aspects' of the present invention may take the form of acomputer program product embodied in one or more computer readablemedium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.

Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may beutilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signalmedium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readablestorage medium ma be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic,magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system,apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. Morespecific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readablestorage medium would include the following: an electrical connectionhaving one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, arandom access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber,a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storagedevice, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storagemedium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a programfor use by or in connection with an instruction execution system,apparatus, or device.

A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signalwith computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, inbaseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may takeany of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to,electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. Acomputer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium thatis not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate,propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmittedusing any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless,wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination ofthe foregoing.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of thepresent invention may be written in any combination of one or moreprogramming languages, including an object oriented programming languagesuch as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional proceduralprogramming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similarprogramming languages. The program code may execute entirely on theuser's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alonesoftware package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remotecomputer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latterscenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computerthrough any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or awide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an externalcomputer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet ServiceProvider).

Aspects of the present invention are described below with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer program instructions. These computer program instructions maybe provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus toproduce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computerreadable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable dataprocessing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readablemedium produce an article of manufacture including instructions whichimplement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer,other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to causea series of operational actions to be performed on the computer, otherprogrammable apparatus or other devices to produce a computerimplemented process such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer or other programmable apparatus provide processes forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

fuming now to the figures, FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a computingsystem architecture 100 that may implement the claimed subject matter. Acomputing system 102 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 104,coupled to a display 106, a keyboard 108 and a pointing device, or“mouse,” 110, which together facilitate human interaction with elementsof architecture 100 and computing system 102. Also included in computingsystem 102 and attached to CPU 104 is a computer-readable storage medium(CRSM) 112, which may either be incorporated into client system 102 i.e.an internal device, or attached externally to CPU 104 by means ofvarious, commonly available connection devices such as but not limitedto, a universal serial bus (USB) port (not shown). CRSM 112 isillustrated storing an operating system (OS) 114, which incorporatesaspects of the claimed subject matter, and an example of logicassociated with a computer software program, or simply “program,” 116.Also stored on CRSM 112 is a shared computing library, or simply“library,” 118, i.e., a collection of computing logic incorporated andemployed by other programs such as program 116. Coupled to library 118is a virtual application programming interface (VAN) 119. In thisexample, library 118 and VAN 119 is configured in accordance with theclaimed subject matter. Components 114, 116, 118 and 119 and theirrelationship to the claimed subject matter are described in more detailbelow in conjunction with FIGS. 2-5.

Client system 102 and CPU 104 are connected to the Internet 120, whichis also connected to a server computer 122. Although in this example,client system 102 and server 122 are communicatively coupled via theInternet 120, they could also be coupled through any number ofcommunication mediums such as, but not limited to, a local area network(LAN) (not shown). Further, it should be noted there are many possibleconfigurations of computing system architectures and computing systemsthat may implement the claimed subject matter, of which architecture 100and computing system 102 are only simple examples.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of computing system 102, first introduced inFIG. 1, in greater detail. As shown in FIG. 1, computing system 102 isillustrated in the form of a general-purpose computing device. In thisexample, components of computing system 102 include, but are not limitedto, CPU 104 (FIG. 1), which may include one or more processors (notshown), a system bus 132, which couples various components to CPU 104,including but not limited to, input/output (I/O) interfaces 134, anetwork interface card (NIC) 136 and memory 140. In this example, NIC136 provides a communication path between computing system 102 and theInternet 120 (FIG. 1) also be provided to a LAN (not shown) or othernetwork. I/O interfaces 134 enable various components (FIG. 1) to becoupled to computing system 102 such as display 106 (FIG. 1) andexternal devices 138. In this example, external devices 138 includekeyboard 108 (FIG. 1) and mouse 110 (FIG. 1).

Bus 132 represents one or more of any of several types of busstructures, which for the sake of simplicity are not shown, including amemory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, an acceleratedgraphics port, and a processor or local bus using any of a variety ofbus architectures. By way of example, and not limitation, sucharchitectures include Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, MicroChannel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced. ISA (EISA) bus, VideoElectronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, and PeripheralComponent interconnects (PCI) bus.

Memory 140 typically includes a variety of computer system readablemedia. Such media may be any available media that is accessible bycomputer system/server 102 and includes both volatile and non-volatilemedia. In this example, memory 140 includes random access memory (RAM)142 and cache memory, or simply “cache,” 144. Computing system/102 andmemory 140 may also further include other removable/non-removable,volatile/non-volatile computer system storage media. Memory 140 is alsoillustrated storing an operating system (OS) 143, a program 145 and ashared library (SL) 146, which includes a virtual applicationprogramming interface (VAPI) 147. In the following examples, OS 143,program 145 SL 146 and VAPI 147 are copies of OS 114 (FIG. 1), program116 (FIG. 1), library 118 (FIG. 1) and VAPI 119 (FIG. 1) that are loadedinto RAM 142. SL 146 is modified in accordance with the claimed, subjectmatter by employing features incorporated into VAPI 147. VAPI 147 andmodification of SL 146 are explained in more detail below in conjunctionwith FIGS. 3-5.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a “Setup Library” process 200 that mayimplement aspect of the claimed subject matter. Typically, process 200would be implemented by a programmer or administrator that modified atypical library to function in accordance with the claimed subjectmatter. Process 200 starts is at “Begin Setup Library” block 202 andproceeds immediately to a “Determine Exported Functions and Data” block204. During processing associated with block 204, library 118 (FIG. 1)is examined to identify any functions and data that may be exported toprograms such as program 116 (FIG. 1). In other words, symbolsassociated with any non-private interfaces and data of library 118 thatmay be used directly by a program are identified. Typically, theseidentified symbols are positioned at fixed address relative to library118. In addition, a library routine may pass data items back to aprogram, or “application.” During: processing associated with a“Generate Virtual Application Programming Interface (VAPI)” block 206,the fixed address of symbols in library 118 are replaced byrepresentations in VAPI 119 (FIG. 1). In other words, VAN 119 representsthe exported and exposed portions of library 118 to programs such asprogram 116.

During processing associated with a “Rebuild Library” block 208, library118, with VAPI 119 are recompiled, or “rebuilt,” and stored on CRSM 112(FIG. 1) for use by a program such as program 118. Finally, controlprocess to an “End Setup Library” block 219 in which process 200 iscomplete.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a “Call Library” process 250 that may implementaspect of the claimed subject matter. In this example, process 250 isassociated with logic of library 146 (FIG. 2) that is executed on CPU104 (FIGS. 1 and 2) in conjunction with program 145 (FIG. 2). Process250 starts in a “Begin Call Library” block 252 when library 146 iscalled by program 145 and proceeds immediately to a “Set Thread Flag”block 254. As explained above in conjunction with FIG. 2, library 146 isconfigured in accordance with the claimed subject matter such thatprogram 145 calls interfaces in VAPI 147 (FIG. 2) rather than interfacesin library 146.

During processing associated with block 254, a flag (not shown)associated with library 146 is set to indicate that program 146 is aboutto execute code, or “enter,” library 146. During processing associatedwith an “operating System (OS) Flag Set” block 254, a determination ismade as to whether or not a particular flag (not shown) associated withOS 143 (FIG. 2) is set (see 304, FIG. 5). This “OS flag” is set by OS143 when a request to update library 146 has been received by OS 143. Ifthe OS flag is set, control proceeds to a “Suspend Thread” block 258.During processing associated with block 258, a thread of program 145that is responsible for the call to library 146 that initiated process250 is suspended. In conjunction with the suspension, a processing table(not shown) of OS 143 is updated to reflect the suspension.

During processing associated with a “Clear Thread Flag” block 260, aflag in OS 146 that corresponds to the calling thread is cleared,indicating to OS 143 that the thread is not active, i.e., either not inthe process of being called or suspended. During processing associatedwith a “Transfer Control to OS for Update” block 262, control isreturned to OS 143 so that library 146 can be updated. During processingassociated with a. “Wait for OS to Resume Thread” 264, the thread thatcalled library 143 waits until OS 143 indicates that a resumption ofprocessing is allowed, typically by changing an entry in the processingtable from suspended to active.

During processing associated with a “Set Thread Flag” block. 266, thethread in OS 143 is set to indicate to OS 143 that the thread is nowactive. Once the thread flag has been set during processing associatedwith block 266 or, if during processing associated with block 256, adetermination was made that the OS flag was not set, control proceeds toan “Execute Library Code” block 268. During processing associated block268, the logic associated with library 143 that was called by program145 is executed.

During processing associated with a “Clear Thread Flag” block 290, thethread flag is cleared. Finally, control proceeds to an “End CallLibrary” block 279 during which process 250 is complete.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an “Update Library” process 300 that mayimplement aspect of the claimed subject matter. In this example, process300 is associated with logic incorporated into OS 114 (FIG. 1) andexecuted on one or more processors (not shown) of CPU 104 (FIGS. 1 and2) to update shared library 146 (FIG. 2). In an alternative embodiment,process 300 may be incorporated into a stand-alone library updateutility.

Process 300 starts in a “Begin Update Library” block 302 and proceedsimmediately to a “Set OS Flag” block 304. During processing associatedwith block 304, a flag (not shown) in OS 114 is set to indicate, that OS114 is beginning the process of updating a library. During processingassociated with a “Check Next Thread” block 306, a first thread of a setof threads corresponding to a particular process (see 254, 260, 266 and270, FIG. 4) of a set of process threads corresponding to the librarybeing updated, e.g. SI, 146, is checked. As explained above inconjunction with FIG. 4, each processing thread currently executing hasa corresponding flag in OS 114 that indicates the particular thread isentering a library such as library 146. Although described with respectto one program and one library, the claimed subject matter is equallyapplicable to scenarios with multiple programs and multiple libraries.In that case, each thread of each process would have a flag for eachlibrary that may be called by the particular thread and only thosethreads corresponding to a library that is to be updated would bechecked.

During processing associated with a “Thread Sleeping” block 310, adetermination is made as to whether or not the thread being checkedduring processing associated with 306 is currently paused. A thread maybe paused for reasons such as, but not limited to waiting for a systemcall to return, if a determination is made that the thread is sleepingcontrol proceeds to a “Wake Thread” block 312. During processingassociated with block 312, the sleeping thread is awaken so that thethread may resume processing, eventually to complete the library callthat is currently executing. Once the thread is awaken or adetermination is made that the thread is not sleeping, control proceedsto a “More Threads?” block 314. During processing associated with block314, as determination is made as to whether or not there are threadsthat still need to be checked to see if they are executing in SL 146. Ifso, control returns to block 306, the next flag corresponding to thenext thread is checked and processing continues as described above. Inshort, process 300 continues to check the thread flags until none areset by looping through blocks 306, 308, 310, 312 and 314 and all thethread flags associated with the library to be updated. As explainedabove in conjunction with FIG. 4, once a thread has completed librarycode, the corresponding thread flag is cleared and the OS flag setduring processing associated with 304 prevents the thread fromreentering the library.

During processing associated with an “Update Library” block 316, SE 146is updated. During processing associated with a “Convert Data” block318, any modified data or data structures associated with SL 146 areupdated. During processing associated with a “Resume Threads and ClearOS Flag” block 320, the OS flag set during processing associated with304 is cleared and all the threads associated with SI. 146 are resumedby updating the corresponding entries in the processing table. Finally,control proceeds to an “End Update Library” block 329 in which process300 is complete.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended toinclude any structure, material, or act for performing the function incombination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. Thedescription of the present invention has been presented for purposes ofillustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Theembodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and the practical application, and to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention forvarious embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof code, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be notedthat, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in theblock may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, twoblocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantiallyconcurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverseorder, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be notedthat each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, andcombinations of blocks in the block, diagrams and/or flowchartillustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-basedsystems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations ofspecial purpose hardware and computer instructions.

1. A method, comprising; detecting, by a processing thread, when theprocessing thread has entered a shared library; in response to thedetecting, setting, in an operating system (OS), a thread flagcorresponding, to the thread; detecting an OS flag, set by the OS,indicating that the OS is updating the shared library; in response todetecting the OS flag, suspending processing by the processing threadand transferring control from the thread to the OS; resuming processingby the processing thread in response to detecting that the OS hascompleted the updating; and executing the shared library in response tothe resuming.
 2. (canceled)
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprisingclearing the thread flag in response to the suspending processing by theprocessing thread.
 4. The method of claim 3, further comprising setting:the thread flag in response to the resuming processing by the processingthread.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: detecting thatthat the thread flag is clear and that the thread is sleeping; andwaking the thread in response to the detecting that that the thread flagis clear and that the thread is sleeping.
 6. The method of claim 5,further comprising, in response to waking the thread, waiting for thethread to clear the thread flag before suspending processing by theprocessing thread and transferring control from the thread to the OS. 7.The method of claim 1, timber comprising clearing the thread flag uponcompletion of the executing the shared library.
 8. The method of claim7, further comprising, clearing the OS flag upon completion of theexecuting the shared library and the updating of the shared library.